A Bite With Ruby

Located in Gramercy, Midwinter Kitchen is a restaurant that brings food grown on their 92-acre farm in Ancram, New York to our mouths. Full Yelp review  Arrived with 2 friends on a Saturday for some brunch. We were told the wait was about 40 minutes, but thankfully we were seated not too long after. Coffee and tea could be ordered while you wait in the meantime. I ordered the Cod Benedict ($20) while my friends had the Steak and Eggs ($20) and one of their omelet specials ($16).  The cod cakes were not filled with too much breading, along with being nice and golden, yet also tender. It was nicely seasoned, yet you still taste the cod in each bite. The touch of cayenne (I think?) gave it a little kick. The hollandaise sauce was also on the lighter side which was a nice touch because the yolks of the poached eggs already adds richness to the dish. The potatoes were nicely roasted, with a added crunch on some of the more golden sides. As for the salad, although nothing too...

The amount of ice cream spots are popping up all over NYC and it doesn't seem to plan to stop. Soft Swerve is a newly opened soft serve ice cream shop located between Chinatown and Lower East Side. I came on opening day when they were having a half off deal on all their ice creams. I got in before 12PM because even though they were opening at that time, they were prepared ahead of time. We were one of the people's to get in too! I went for the Ube in a black chocolate cone. Compared to other Ube ice creams I've had, Ube in soft serve form is more smooth and creamy, yet at the same time the flavor gets a bit diluted. Regular Ube ice cream is a bit stronger, with a taro like flavor, but the texture is more sand-like. The Ube is good if you like a more mild flavor and something that isn't too overpowering. After having the Ube, I was curious about the Matcha so I went for another round of ice cream, but this time, without the cone. I picked the St Mark's Place sp...

Brooklyn is one of those places that I don't often visit. Maybe because I grew up in Manhattan, whenever I go to Brooklyn, I feel somewhat lost there. Although I don't visit Brooklyn often, I do know there are some really good food spots over there which I should venture off to more often in the future.   Bunsmith was one of the spots that I was curious about after seeing a picture on Instagram. It wasn't overly hyped when I saw it in my newsfeed, which is probably why I was interested. (I prefer to go to places that not everyone is trying to go to.) My friend and I decided to go to the Brooklyn Botanical Garden this weekend before the Cherry Blossom Festival started so we can get some shots of the flowers before it gets overcrowded. By around noon, we started to get hungry so Bunsmith was the perfect spot since it wasn't too far away. We had to wait til 1PM before they were opened and by the time they were, it was not too busy yet. We were seated relatively quickl...

One of the food trends these days are egg waffles. They are not new to the food world, but it has become a popular hit in the US, especially when topped with ice cream. Egg waffles first originated from Hong Kong, known as "gai daan jai"  (鷄蛋仔), or egg puff, bubble waffle, eggette, egglet and puffle. T hese days, they are making their way over to the US with a twist of flavor. Egg waffles are not unfamiliar to me. Growing up, my sisters and I would get egg waffles from the street carts in Chinatown. They would be about $1 for 20 pieces and came in only one flavor, which was classic, plain. Each egg waffles were separated for you to eat, while in Asia, they are sold as one waffle piece. Texture wise was also different because the ones here were soft and fluffy, while the ones I had in Hong Kong were crunchy on the outside but a bit chewy on the side. I don't remember how I stumbled upon Eggloo. It might have been through Facebook while scrolling through my newsfeed. (T...

Sometimes when I am in Tribeca and am feeling hungry, I always struggle to find a place to eat. But if I really can't find something I want, I always end up going to the Takahachi Bakery. It's a Japanese bakery that has fresh made breads, sandwiches, sweets and cakes. Whenever I feel like grabbing a light lunch or something sweet, it is always my go-to spot. (Because I get super indecisive!) On days when I want a light sandwich, I tend to go for the spicy salmon avocado, which is not the cheapest, ($7.95) but I try not to go too often. The bread used for the sandwich is their house-made black sesame bread. (They also make other types of bread daily.) The only downside of it is that you don't taste the black sesame when combined. The bread also gets a little moist, but that is because it sits in their open refrigerator after being made. As for the salmon, it was very smooth and creamy, but lacking some salt and spiciness since it was a "spicy" salmon avocado sand...

Over the weekend my sister dropped by and when she did, she told me they had new flavors at the doughnut plant. She picked up one of the Rosemary Pineapple cake doughnuts to try. I was excited when she told me because I couldn't imagine what it would taste like. The doughnut itself is has hints of the piney rosemary flavor, along with bits of the pineapple flavor in the glaze. I personally preferred a little more rosemary flavor, while my sister felt that it was enough, so it may be a matter of preference. We both felt that the glaze was a bit sweet and that we tasted more of the sugar of the glaze than anything. I wish it had more of the pineapple flavor in the glaze even though it had pieces of it spread throughout the glaze. It was good overall, but I look forward to trying the doughseed version of this flavor. *Although they still come out with new flavors, my favorite has to be their mocha. Their mocha doughseed is amazing. A few other ones that I love are the tres lech...

Yelp was where I first stumbled across Spicebox. I was excited to see another Japanese style crepe store open up around my area. I added it to my list of bookmarks but after a while I noticed it on Groupon. I took the opportunity to try out two of the crepes with the offer they had. For my first visit, I decided on trying the Tokyo in a Bite ($9.50). Tokyo in a Bite: strawberries, red bean, green tea ice cream, Pocky sticks, whipped yogurt cream, chocolate sauce and cereal. It was what I saw on Yelp that interested me the most in terms of appearance. Taste wise, it was good, but not mind blowing. The crepe itself had a sponge-y texture and was thicker compared to other crepes I've had before. Along with being sponge-y, the crepe would soaked up the sauces easily which made it more on the mushy side. It also has a floppiness to it which makes it harder to hold up on its own towards the end of eating it. The green tea ice cream was pretty standard, not very strong in flavor...

I was walking around the Financial District the other day, thinking about what to eat. I wasn't craving anything specific, so I decided to walk by this new ramen place that had opened up in the area. I had it bookmarked on Yelp, so I decided to just try it out since I wanted to eventually try it out anyways. I went in around 3PM and it wasn't very packed. Walking in, they had the menu displayed above the counter, along with the dinner menu on a blackboard on the side. It has a somewhat modern look mixed with a earthy type of feel. (This is just my attempt to describe the interior design.) The place itself isn't too big, probably fitting around 20 people or so, but this is the Financial District though. So I took a look at the menu. Being that I wasn't craving anything, nothing on the menu jumped out at me. They have a few small plates or appetizers, five ramen options and six donburi bowls if you don't want ramen. I decided to go for the Kuu Chili Chili Ramen ($...

Spring break this week! Even though I am not a student anymore, I still get a short break. So that means good time to go out and eat! Being that I am short on cash, I decided to redeem my Groupon I purchased to use at Bareburger. I have been to Bareburger once before, but this was also due to the fact that I had bought a set of Bareburger Groupons. (The deal was for 4 Groupons and each one was worth $10 which could be used for a burger to dine in or take at. Only valid at the Financial District branch if I remember correctly.) I have seen Bareburger before but was never motivated to try it out. I knew they had organic or all natural burgers, but I felt that prices would be high, so I would just pass it by. Thankfully for Groupon, I was able to try it for a small discount. The previous time I went, I had the Socal Burger ($10.85) which was a turkey burger with aged cheddar, guacamole, pickled red onions, alfalfa on a sprouted bun. This burger did not wow me, even though it was good. T...

FINALLY! My first entry on food. I was debating on what should be my first one and there was one place that kept popping into my mind. CHALAIT. It seemed like a very raved about place when I was scrolling through Instagram, so one day I decided to stop by hoping it was as good as it seemed. When we finally got there, it was PACKED with people, so we had no hopes of getting any seats. The space itself was somewhat small with some tables by the window and some seats around the counter. Being that the space is somewhat small, it can get crowded easily. I also noticed it can get a bit noisy, so if you want a more spacious setting for intimate/private conversations, this might not be the best place for it. So with that said, we decided to just grab our drinks to go. I got a chance to look at the menu and noticed they had quite a few options for green tea drinks. (Other than drinks, they do have some food options, along with some baked goods.) Being someone that really enjoys gre...